Bloomberg.com – Yuan Set to Join IMF Basket in Step Toward Currency Big Leagues China’s yuan is poised to enter the big leagues of global currencies, according to the judgment of the International Monetary Fund. IMF staff have recommended the yuan be included in the fund’s Special Drawing Rights reserve-currency basket, alongside the U.S. dollar,… Continue reading The Yuan As A Reserve Currency
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The Wall Street Journal – Economists Overwhelmingly Expect Fed to Raise Interest Rates in December There is near-unanimous agreement among private forecasters surveyed that the Federal Reserve will begin raising short-term interest rates next month after holding them near zero for seven years. About 92% of the business and academic economists polled by The Wall… Continue reading Everyone Expects Higher Rates
Bloomberg.com – IEA Says Record 3 Billion-Barrel Oil Stocks May Weaken Prices Oil stockpiles have swollen to a record of almost 3 billion barrels because of strong production in OPEC and elsewhere, potentially deepening the rout in prices, according to the International Energy Agency. This “massive cushion has inflated” on record supplies from Iraq, Russia… Continue reading Crude Oil Inventories And Production On The Rise Once Again
Bloomberg.com – Fed’s Dudley Says Need for Higher Rates Soon ‘Quite Possible’ The Federal Reserve’s policy committee may need to begin raising interest rates for the first time since 2006, though some slack remains in the labor market, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said Thursday. “I think it is quite… Continue reading Fed Heads Speak
The Wall Street Journal – ECB Quantitative Easing Losing Its Power to Pack a Punch in Markets As investors gear up for more stimulus from the European Central Bank, short-term bonds in the eurozone are on a tear, but investors are much more cautious about longer-dated debt. That reflects two things. First, investors are increasingly… Continue reading QE vs. Negative Interest Rates
Bloomberg.com – Deutsche Bank: A Bloated Fed Balance Sheet Threatens to Speed Up Rate Hikes The Federal Reserve has chosen to start the process of raising interest rates before shrinking its balance sheet. According to economists at Deutsche Bank, that decision may force Fed Chair Janet Yellen to raise rates faster than the market expects… Continue reading Making The Case For Faster-Than-Expected Rate Hikes
The Financial Times – Mohamed El-Erian: US optimism is premature — proceed with caution Last Friday’s blockbuster US jobs report has done more than significantly raise market expectations of a December interest rate rise by the Federal Reserve, the first in almost 10 years. It is also starting to fuel a narrative that the US… Continue reading El-Erian Says U.S. Optimism May Be Premature
Bloomberg.com – China Doubles Margin Requirement for Stocks to Curb Leverage China moved to contain leveraged wagers on its stock market, cutting by half the amount of borrowed money investors can use to buy shares, as authorities seek to prevent a repeat of the excesses that led to a $5 trillion rout earlier this year.… Continue reading China Attempts To Slow Speculative Money
Bloomberg.com – Mind the Gap as Currency Markets Shrivel for All But Biggest Few Even the world’s biggest financial market can’t escape the global liquidity drought. Currency traders accustomed to shifting billions of dollars around the globe are starting to suffer as dealers retrench. Investors facing higher costs in this environment could rein them in… Continue reading Currency Markets See Higher Bid-Ask Spreads
<Click on chart for larger image> IB Times – As Expectations Of December Rate Hike Grow, Analysts Look To US Fed Policymakers For Direction Investors and analysts would seek to glean further clues to the prospects of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve before year-end, as half a dozen Fed speakers express their… Continue reading Timing The Rate Hike